CLONTARF: €625,000 and €650,000:Two renovated redbrick family homes enjoy different amenities in the same Northside area

NUMBER 21 Vernon Avenue in Clontarf, Dublin 3 is an interesting proposition.

It’s a bit bare-looking inside because it’s been rented for a while but if you can look past that, it has the makings of a great family home.

Sherry FitzGerald is asking €625,000 for the 208sq m (2,238sq ft), three-bed Edwardian house which also has a converted attic.

The house is part of a terrace of redbricks with restaurants such as Tibor’s and Miloughney’s on its doorstep, and a deli and cake shop across the road. This part of Vernon Avenue is quite busy traffic-wise with people trying to park near the shops, but Number 21 is set well back from the road and has gravelled, off-street parking for at least two cars.

Inside, the two main reception rooms are well proportioned with high ceilings and original black slate fireplaces, which have colourful restored tiling on their insets. The only disappointment is that the sash windows in the bay in the front reception room are PVC and the light fittings have been taken out to accommodate recessed lighting, so the ceiling roses look a little odd.

Double doors lead from the rear reception room to a big, white, contemporary kitchen that’s been extended to one side with a glass roof to make a fairly vast area. The kitchen has plenty of white, fitted, wall-to- floor units, a long island with storage underneath and an integrated cooker. The wooden countertops on the island are a bit worn but could easily be replaced. The fact that the hob is on an easily reached spot on the island countertop might be off-putting for people with small children but this could be changed.

Off the kitchen are two extensions containing yet another family space with access through teak doors to the garden, a utility room and a toilet. The price paid for these extra rooms is that they encroach into the rear garden – a paved space, which is, however, still a reasonable size.

Under the stairs, off the chequer-tiled floor, is a trap door that opens to a basement storage area. Upstairs on the first return there’s a dual-aspect double bedroom with a shower en suite. The family bathroom is a pleasant space with underfloor heating and a big jacuzzi bath with side panels. There’s more storage under the sink, and nice marble and porcelain tiling on the walls and floor.

At the next level there are two bedrooms, one being the main bedroom, that share an unusual-looking curved-wall en suite. The en suite has a big, stand-in shower with a big, rainforest shower head and a double sink unit. The en suite, though impressive, encroaches a little too much into the second double bedroom. There are stairs up to a converted attic, a good- sized space with substantial eaves storage either side. There’s also access to another floored attic space off the first return landing

Number 21 is on view from noon to 1pm.

21 Vernon Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3

Description: Three-bed Edwardian terraced house with converted attic

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald

While 21 Vernon Avenue is in the thick of the action in Clontarf, a short walk from the seafront, Number 136 Mount Prospect Avenue is in a quieter, less frenetic part and has St Anne’s Park on its doorstep.

Douglas Newman Good is asking €650,000 for the four-bedroom redbrick semi which was renovated and given a double extension in 2005, overseen by De Blacam and Meagher architects.

The house is set fairly well back from the road due to a decent- sized front garden shaded by a 100-year-old beech tree. Electronic gates guard the driveway which has parking for up to three cars.

Inside, it is 134sq m (1,450sq ft) and there’s very little for a new owner to do. The original stained glass has been incorporated into a more contemporary front door, and off the hall there are two interconnecting reception rooms with matching sandstone mantelpieces and honey polished original floorboards. The front drawingroom has a bay window.

The decor throughout is subtle, restrained and tasteful.

Concealed behind doors in the hall there’s a utility and storage area, and an understairs loo. A Eurocave wine cabinet is slotted into a recess in the wall.

The kitchen extension adds another family room to the house, part of which has a cream gloss Chalon kitchen. The dining area has an atrium roof and opens out to the back garden.

Upstairs there are four bedrooms, two doubles and two singles. The main bedroom has an en suite with power shower. The main, pale-blue-tiled bathroom has a bath with a power shower.

There’s access via Stira stairs from one of the single bedrooms up to a converted attic which is currently used as a games and TV room with great storage.

The rear west-facing garden isn’t huge but has a neat lawn which has been recently re-laid, a curved sandstone patio area and plenty of planting and trellising.

136 Mount Prospect Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3

Description: Four-bed redbrick semi-detached house with double extension

Agent: Douglas Newman Good